Mentoring as a Generative Enterprise

Abstract

Abstract Mentorship is generative. Central to both paradigms are the concepts of advancing oneself (agency) and being of service to others (communion), resulting in the passage of skills and advancement of the next generation. By exploring theories of mentorship in higher education from a generative lens, using the threads of agency and communion, the interplay of mentorship and generativity are discussed. Traditional notions of mentorship are challenged through nuanced case studies leading to a discussion of how reverse mentorship can foster generativity. Further, potentially harmful aspects of mentorship, interrogating the question of “for whom” mentors are generative and the consequences of exclusion, are explored. Culminating in suggestions to move forward research and applied mentorships settings, the need to examine the intersection of mentorship and generativity is emphasized.